Tina Barseghian

Using design thinking to get teenagers to reimagine their learning environment, design firms and educators show kids how the process can help them make a difference in their neighborhoods, all the while giving them control over their own learning. “You need to challenge students because they will rise to the occasion,” says educator and designer … Continue reading Putting Power In the Hands of Kids Through Design Thinking →

We’ve heard the importance of failure and experimentation in learning. In this excellent interview on Science Friday, inventor James Dyson speaks about his direct experience with failures and schools’ need to accommodate it. “My life and my day are full of failures,” he says. “Failures are interesting.”

"Ideas can spark a movement. Ideas can spark opportunities and innovation." This, from enterprising 13-year-old wondergirl Maya Penn, who at the tender age of eight, launched her own business, Maya's Ideas for the Planet. Listen to her inspiring talk at the recent TEDWomen Conference and learn how this budding entrepreneur is going to help save the planet.

When we consider what kids need from school, we often revert to getting advice from experts – researchers, parents, teachers, principals, administrators. Rarely do we have the chance to hear from students about what they want from their school experience. While out reporting on different stories, NPR Education correspondent Eric Westervelt and I took the opportunity to capture students' voices. Here's what they said.

Depending on the context in which it is used, and the priorities of the educators (which includes those present in the classroom, lurking at home, or at their drawing boards or computer screens at an educational publisher), one can skew the same application toward app-dependent or app-enabling ends.

From Jackie Gerstein's resource-rich site comes this sweet infographic depicting the skills we'd like to instill in our students. The post also includes a long, helpful list of resources for everything from how to help students develop hope, to encouraging empathy and social and emotional skills, to how to foster grit, tenacity and perseverance: an educator's guide.

A fun story about a public elementary school in South Carolina where every student is an engineer. There's plenty of robotics and science, definitely some art -- but no handwriting instruction. Is this the future?

As media becomes more prevalent in kids' lives, parents are grappling with the potential benefits and pitfalls of screen time -- what's just the right amount, what's truly educational, what's beneficial, and what's detrimental. To get a better understanding of parents' attitudes around kids' educational media, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center surveyed 1,577 parents of kids ages 2 to 10 years old, including a representative group of African American and Latino parents.

This short and powerful video describes all the many reasons we crave sugar. It’s not only a great video to show science students (though older ones — drugs are mentioned too), it’s a fascinating look into how our bodies work for anyone who’s interested.